Speakers &amp; Moderators

Writing PR in Digital Asia: (Recommended for 16yo and above)
Brand Consciousness and Unconscious Marketing: Recommended for 16yo and above

Adya Chatterjee is an aspiring writer who just published her debut novel Silence. She lives in Singapore as she pursues her passions including poetry, basketball, dogs and her life in 8th grade. To catch a glimpse at her whirlwind of a writing journey follow her on instagram @a.c.unscripted.

Alan Lim

Graduated from Singapore University of Social Sciences with a communications degree, Alan Lim works in corporate communications and is currently the assistant communications manager at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU). His articles have been published in local magazines such as Brightsparks and iFitness. He also has the past experience of working as a part-time radio presenter.

Alex Campbell

LUXURY WRITING: Of Brands and Writing: Recommended for 16yo and above
The News - Digital and Now

Alex is currently a publishing editor at Springer Nature, handling book and journal commissions in the humanities and social sciences in Southeast and East Asia. She previously worked in newspaper and magazine publishing for eight years as a sub editor, writer and photographer, working in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. Prior to joining Springer, she was the editor of Media Group's Asian Geographic magazine. She was named the Editor of the Year at the Media Publishers Association of Singapore Awards in 2017. Alex holds a joint Masters of Arts in Journalism, Media and Globalisation, which was fully funded by the European Commission.

Alfonse Chiu

Telling Our Stories - Writing and Making in Southeast Asia: Supported by Singapore International Film Festival

Alfonse Chiu is a cultural journalist, photographer, and the creative director of SINdie.sg, Singapore's oldest active independent film publication. An alumnus of the inaugural Singapore International Film Festival Youth Jury and Critic Programme, his writings on film and culture have been published in Singapore, Canada, and the United States.

Alice Clark-Platts

MYSTERIES DEBUNKED: Writing Mysteries for Targeted Audiences

Alice Clark-Platts is a novelist whose crime novels BITTER FRUITS and the bestselling, THE TAKEN, are published by Penguin Random House. THE TAKEN was shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader Awards 2017 for Best Police Procedural. Alice’s short fiction has been published in numerous works. Her latest story, LOST BOY, is included in the crime anthology DEADLIER, edited by the author Sophie Hannah. Alice has lived in Singapore for seven years and has two young daughters.

Alisa Maya

Poetry-in-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Alisa is an English Literature graduate from the National University of Singapore. She was previously a Citizen Reviewer with Centre 42, former Head of Outreach at Social Enterprise UNSAID and alumnus of Burn After Reading Singapore, a local poetry collective. Her work has been published in several online and print publications such as The Straits Times.

Ang Shuang

Ang Shuang is currently on the brink of graduating from law school. Her primary poison is poetry, and her works have been seen in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore (QLRS), Words Dance Magazine, as well as SingPoWriMo 2016 and 2017. These days, she is working on a solo collection.

Angelique N Teo

LUXURY WRITING: Of Brands and Writing: Recommended for 16yo and above

Having hosted everything from gala dinners, award ceremonies and luxury events, Angelique Nicolette Teo has worked with names like Tiffany & Co, Mercedes Benz, Julius Baer and the World Travel Awards. As an accomplished emcee and round table moderator, Angelique has also fronted television programs for the Formula 1, HBO, Cinemax and Channel NewsAsia.

Annette Lee

Singapore Comedy - Content & Distribution: Recommended for 16yo and above

Annette Rochelle Lee is the Lead Writer/Director at SGAG Media, helming many of the viral comedy videos that have gone up in its platform. She is also acts in the videos, and her characters such as “Sue-Ann” and “Suezanna Chloe Tan”, have grown to be well-loved by many. Her love for writing transcends filmmaking too, as she is also the author/illustrator of the blog www.ifonlywefartflowers.com, and also performs as local singer-songwriter, ANNETTE.

Arvin s/o Venugopal

The Leon Theory: Supported by Singapore Polytechnic

Arvin is a graduate from Singapore Polytechnic’s Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media. Arvin enjoys telling stories and is equally confortable being in front or behind the camera. He made his acting debut in The Leon Theory playing the lovable by flawed Pathi. Arvin is currently serving his National Service.

Ashley Seek En Ming

The Leon Theory: Supported by Singapore Polytechnic

Ashley is a graduate from the Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media (DTVM), Singapore Polytechnic. During his time at DTVM, Ashley mostly took on the role of writer in team projects. Ashley pitched the original idea for The Leon Theory web series and worked with a group of classmates to develop the concept for their final year project. Ashley was one of the scriptwriters for The Leon Theory. He is currently serving his National Service, where he writes for the Army News magazine.

Athena Tan

YOUNG WRITING BY YOUNG WRITERS: The All In! Snack Fiction Anthology

Athena Tan is a student and founder of Carpe Bloom, an online publication featuring the original works of young people and artistes all over the world. Her passion lies in exploring the world of the word through various creative projects, creating defining moments for others through writing and enabling fellow young people to showcase their work with confidence. Her work has appeared in WE ARE A WEBSITE (literary journal), All In! 2017 and the Creative Arts Programme Mentorship, Eye on the World: Connecting the Dots and placed first in the Global Debate Essay Competition.

Balli Kaur Jaswal

Singaporean Identity in Contemporary Fiction
WORKSHOP: Pitching Your Work Out There: (Individual Ticket)

Balli Kaur Jaswal is the author of three novels, including SUGARBREAD, a coming-of-age story about identity and belonging. Her short stories and non-fiction have appeared in publications in the UK, Australia, Singapore, India and the US. A former high school teacher, she enjoys mentoring budding writers of all ages.

Bani Haykal

YOUNG WRITING BY YOUNG WRITERS: The All In! Snack Fiction Anthology

bani haykal experiments with text + music. As an artist, composer and musician, bani considers music (making / processes) as a metaphor for cybernetics and his projects revolve around modes of interfacing and interaction in feedback / feedforward mechanisms. He is a member of b-quartet and Soundpainting ensemble Erik Satay & The Kampong Arkestra.

Bradley Gerard Santa Maria

One of the featured writers of All In! Snack Fiction Anthology - being new to the writing scene, he is still discovering a multitude of profound ways to adapt his ideas in such a way that readers can live vicariously through the pages.

Chan Yi Wen

Managing Content - The Regional Experience: Recommended for 16yo and above

Yiwen is the cofounder of content.co, a content marketing platform that powers great brand stories through its fast growing network of over 5,000 content creators in Asia Pacific. Content.co has been shortlisted as Disruptor of the Year by the Mumbrella Awards Asia 2017. A former journalist, Yi Wen was previously featured in the inaugural Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2016 for Media, Marketing & Advertising as well as in Singapore Tatler's Generation T.

Cherilyn Woo

Writing Socially-Relevant Artistic Content: Supported by Singapore Creations Etc

Cherilyn is a theatre director and writer who seeks out different opportunities in the local and international arts scenes. In 2016, she completed a residency at Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) where she worked as an assistant director on several different productions including The LKY Musical and Shakespeare in the Park. Her strong passion for music led her to venture into opera, where she will be stage directing an opera concert for Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2018. Besides directing, Cherilyn enjoys creating rap music.

Chrystal Ng

MASTERCLASS: Writing About Film: Supported by the Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE College of the Arts (By invitation only)
The Power of Film and Your Will to Write It: Supported by the Puttnam School of Film, LaSalle

Chrystal Ng is a film and humanities educator in Singapore. She holds a B.Comms and M.Comms from WKWSCI, NTU, specialising in Film Festivals. Currently, she is an Adjunct Lecturer for the Puttnam School of Film and Animation at the LASALLE College of the Arts. She also oversees the Youth Jury and Critics Programme for the Singapore International Film Festival.

Chua En Lai

SPOTLIGHT: Let Loose with The Noose: *SCAPEmedia x All In! Young Writers Festival

Chua Enlai is a Singaporean stage and television actor. He is probably best known for his work on the International Emmy-nominated series The Noose, playing the well-loved characters Jacques Ooi, BB See and Pornsak Sukhumvit. The show is screened on terrestrial television channel Mediacorp Channel 5, as well as Comedy Central Asia. Enlai was named Elle Magazine’s Actor of the Year in 2008. 2013 Asian Television Awards, Best Comedy Performance by an Actor/Actress Award, The Noose. (photo by Joel Low Photography)

Crispin Rodrigues

Using Narrative Poetry to Develop Writing Skills
Poetry-in-Progress: Supported by ATOM
Readings: Poetry-In-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Crispin Rodrigues’ poems and prose have been published in From Walden to Woodlands (2015), A Luxury We Must Afford (2015) and several editions of SingPoWriMo. His first collection of poems, Pantomime, was published in 2017. He is now working on his second collection of poems and a book on prose poems. (photo by Cora Dean)

Cyril Wong

Using Narrative Poetry to Develop Writing Skills

Cyril Wong is the Singapore Literature Prize-winning author of poetry collections such as Unmarked Treasure and The Lover's Inventory. He has also published Ten Things My Father Never Taught Me and Other Stories and a novel, The Last Lesson of Mrs de Souza. Cyril has served as a mentor under the Creative Arts Programme and the Mentor Access Project, as well as a judge for the Golden Point Awards in Singapore. A past recipient of the National Arts Council's Young Artist Award for Literature, he completed his doctoral degree in English Literature at the National University of Singapore in 2012. His poems have been anthologised in Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond (W. W. Norton 2008) and Chinese Erotic Poems (Everyman's Library 2007).

Daniel Jenkins

WRITING SINGAPORE THEATRE: History, Struggles and Triumphs
SRT Fringe Performances: Supported by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Daniel Jenkins is Associate Artistic Director for Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT). Originally from the UK, he began acting as a teenager with The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He went on to train at the Guildford School of Acting in the UK, where he received the Yvonne Arnaud award for acting. He has an Acting Diploma with GSA, a Licentiate in Drama with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Theatre. Daniel has been nominated 6 times for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards and has won the Best Supporting Actor Award twice for his roles in Quills, and Cabaret.

Danny Yeo

The Rhythm, Sounds and Humour in Adapting Scripts for Theatre: Supported by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Danny Yeo is a multi-hyphenate with 25 years of experience in various fields – radio, television, print, film and theatre. He has been involved in all of Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Mandarin children musicals since 2013 as an Associate Artist. He has published six books, written for six local movies, directed three children musicals for Esplanade’s F.Y.I. programme and conceptualised the interactive-immersive Child’s Play series for Esplanade’s Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts 2017 and 2018. He also co-directed the 2018 world premiere of Bu Tian in China with Kok Heng Leun for the Chinese national company Shanghai Puppet Theatre.

Darryl Whetter

Developing Setting for Short Stories
LASALLE Fringe: Meet Saleem Hadi: Supported by Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE

Dr Darryl Whetter is the inaugural director of the first Creative Writing MA in Singapore and Southeast Asia (at LASALLE College of the Arts). He is the author of three books of fiction and two poetry collections. In his native Canada, his debut collection of stories was a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of 2003 and, Origins, his first poetry collection, received a starred review in Quill & Quire. His scholarly articles on literature and Creative Writing pedagogy have been published by Routledge, the National Poetry Foundation (US), and Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, etc.

David Liew

Write for Kindness Workshops 2018: Poetry: Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (By invitation only)

David Liew has been described as a polymath. Besides illustrating children's books, he's an active member of the Singapore Maker community. He shared the 2016 Cystal Kite Award for Asia, India and Middle East Region with writer Melanie Lee for Who is the Red Commander?, as well as a Samsung Kidstime Authors Award in the same year for Where is my Mama? from the same series. Dave is also the Regional Advisor for the Singapore chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. He has written and illustrated Nightmare on Eat Street: Tales from the Leopard Eating House, as well as illustrated Eliza Teoh's Ellie Belly series.

Dawn Fung

WORKSHOP: Developing Style in Poetry and Articulating Emotions through Imagery: (Individual Ticket)

Dawn is a folk singer-songwriter. Her music employs biblical and folk imagery to produce docu-narrative visions of conflict, faith and glory. Her works reflect a deep interest in stories, themes around time and eternity. Dawn Fung is influenced by the 60s folk revivalists especially Anne Briggs and Bob Dylan, and contemporary folk singers like Kate Rusby. She is based in Singapore, and homeschools her two children.

Deborah Emmanuel

Deborah Emmanuel is a writer, performer and four-time TEDx speaker. She has written two books, When I Giggle In My Sleep (2015) and Rebel Rites (2016). She also makes music with Wobology, The Ditha Project and the producer Kiat, teaches workshops, draws illustrations and devises independent theatre.

Dennis Ng

The News - Digital and Now

Dennis has been playing music for the past 12 years and started writing original music as one-half of singer-songwriting duo Ciao Turtle in April 2014. Since then, Ciao Turtle has been a finalist in SG50 The Gift Of Song song-writing competition organized by Mediacorp and their songs can be heard on national radio airwaves.

Derek Cai

Derek’s a journalist formerly from NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) in the Singapore bureau. He graduated from University at Buffalo (SIM) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication, and is now pursuing a Master’s Degree in International Relations at S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Prior to broadcast, he wrote for print and digital publications.

Don Aravind

Telling Our Stories - Writing and Making in Southeast Asia: Supported by Singapore International Film Festival

Don is an independent short filmmaker who has crafted a body of work drawn out from personal life and observation, with a distinct propagation of social consciousness through poetically tinged realism. He is also an established and versatile television and commercial director who’s credit includes Singapore's first English daily long-form drama Tanglin.

Don Bosco

THE SINGAPORE STYLE: How Do You Define Singapore Literature?
MYSTERIES DEBUNKED: Writing Mysteries for Targeted Audiences

Don Bosco writes thrilling fiction inspired by Asian legends and pop culture. He started the award-winning publishing studio Super Cool Books in 2011. His books include the YA thriller MAGICIENNE, co-authored with celebrity illusionist Ning Cai, and the story development guide IMAGINE ALL THIS: HOW TO WRITE YOUR OWN STORIES. He is a local co-organiser for StoryCode Singapore, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Elodie Kyra

MYSTERIES DEBUNKED: Writing Mysteries for Targeted Audiences

Elodie Kyra, 14, is the daughter of Ellie Belly author Eliza Teoh. In fact, she is the real-life Ellie Belly and the inspiration for her mother’s books. She started her writing journey by writing the diary stories in the Ellie Belly books. As the co-author of Ellie Belly #8: Otter Out of Water, Elodie was nominated for Popular Bookstore's Readers Choice Awards 2018. As quirky in real-life as she is as a storybook character, Elodie decided to write her own books. Her Young Adult trilogy starts with Rage, which documents strange happenings in a school for the gifted – students seem to be becoming brainwashed and it is up to the protagonist to find out why.

Eric Tinsay Valles

TRANSLATIONS & PUBLISHING: The Singapore Experience
THE SINGAPORE STYLE: How Do You Define Singapore Literature?
Spoken Word Showcase: Ides of March: Supported by PoetryWalls

Eric was nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize and won a Goh Sin Tub Creative Writing prize for poems in his second collection, After the Fall (dirges among ruins). His first poetry book was A World in Transit. He co-edited the Get Lucky anthology of Singapore and Filipino writings and Sg Poems 2015-2016. He has been featured in & Words, Reflecting on the Merlion, Southeast Asian Review of English, Routledge’s New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing and other journals. Eric is a director of the Poetry Festival (Singapore).

Esther Tan Hui Tian

The Leon Theory: Supported by Singapore Polytechnic

Esther is a graduate from the Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media, Singapore Polytechnic. She produced HeartWare, a documentary film about a karang guni man’s search for love. The film was nominated for Best Camera Work, Best Editing and Best Documentary in the National Youth Film Awards 2016 and was showcased in international film festivals. Esther wrote scripts for The Leon Theory web series and took on the role of Assistant Director in the production team. She is currently working full time at Big 3 Media and worked on The Breakup List.

Faisal Ishak

Singapore Films - Making A Mark Regionally: Recommended for 16yo and above

Faisal has been directing and producing Malay films and TV content since the late 1990s, with highly-rated Malay TV drama series and film nominations locally and overseas. In recent years, he has been a senior-producer for several notable productions for Mediacorp's Suria, having directed both the series and the film Juvana, Aliff: Dalam 7 Dimensi and QADR, among others.

Falling Feathers

LUXURY WRITING: Of Brands and Writing: Recommended for 16yo and above
Feature Writing for Magazines: Recommended for 16yo and above

With a unique vocal quality that can be immediately recognised as his own, Falling Feathers' music not only consists of compulsive hooks and relatable narratives, but they envelope the conventional emotions of day-to-day experiences in an accessible way. His jovial personality can be felt through his music and no doubt puts a smile on the face of anyone who listens.

Farhan Shah

Farhan Shah, 31, is the editor of AUGUSTMAN (Singapore), the modern man’s lifestyle companion. Available online on augustman.com and offline as a monthly print journal, AUGUSTMAN is one of the most popular men’s content platforms in the region, with a franchise in Malaysia and previously Indonesia.

Felicia Low-Jimenez

STUCK IN BETWEEN: Writing for Tweens, Midgraders and YA

Felicia is one-half of AJ Low, a husband-and-wife writing team with Adan Jimenez, who write the Sherlock Sam series of children’s books. Their books have won the International Schools Libraries Network’s Red Dot Award 2013-2014 and have been published in North America, Indonesia, and Turkey. An animated Sherlock Sam series is also in the works. During the day, Felicia is a bookseller. (photo by Mindy Tan Photography/Epigram Books)

Felix Cheong

TRUTH BE TOLD: Handling Rejection in Publishing

Felix Cheong is the author of 11 books, including four volumes of poetry and a collection of short stories, Vanishing Point, which was longlisted for the prestigious Frank O’Connor Award. His latest, Singapore Siu Dai, is a trilogy of flash fiction stories satirising life, politics and mannerisms of the Lion City. Conferred the Young Artist of the Year for Literature in 2000 by the National Arts Council, he was named by Readers Digest as the 29th Most Trusted Singaporean in 2010. Cheong has been invited to read at writers’ festivals all over the world: Edinburgh, West Cork, Austin, Sydney, Brisbane, Christchurch, Kuala Lumpur, Ubud and Hong Kong.

Fiona Wood

Building Worlds Through Words

Fiona Wood is an award-winning Australian author of YA fiction. Cloudwish, Wildlife and Six Impossible Things are published internationally and are Library Guild Selections in the US. Her most recent novel, Take Three Girls, is a collaboration with Cath Crowley and Simmone Howell.

Gabby Tye

STUCK IN BETWEEN: Writing for Tweens, Midgraders and YA

At the age of 18, Gabby is Singapore’s youngest bestselling author. Her Young Adult trilogy, RunHideSeek, is a modern-day take on Hansel and Gretel, tackling the themes of food shortage, genetically-modified crops, and the ethics of survival in a world where adults have abandoned their children in the desperate attempt to save themselves.Released in August 2017, the sequel to RunHideSeek, Ever, stayed on the Straits Times bestselling list for 15 weeks. The trilogy has been published in China while movie rights have been optioned to Woosh Pictures Pte Ltd.

Gary Yang

WRITING SINGAPORE THEATRE: History, Struggles and Triumphs
ACSian Theatre Fringe: Supported by Anglo-Chinese Junior College

Gary Yang started his career as a suit at an advertising agency, followed by stints in Corporate Communications with Singapore Press Holdings and Asia Pacific Breweries, before joining the digital content team at Sport Singapore. He now makes a living by sniffing out sports news angles and occasionally presenting in front of the camera.

Geetha Creffield

Geetha is the Head of department for ACJC’s English and Drama department. She is a postgraduate student reading for a second MA in Performance and Culture at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is working towards a PHD in Culture, Sociology and Performance. Geetha is the director of ACSian Theatre, a prize winning youth ensemble that travels extensively and performs across the world.

Gene Segarra Navera

Documenting the Undocumented: Recommended for 16yo and above
Developing Social Awareness Through Writing: Recommended for 16yo and above

Gene teaches rhetoric and composition courses at the Centre for English Language Communication of the National University of Singapore (NUS). He holds a PhD in English Language Studies from NUS and writes in the areas of political rhetoric, critical discourse studies, and metaphor studies.

Genevieve Wong

Poetry & Photography: Supported by Poetry Festival SG

Genevieve has a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Fiction) at the City University of Hong Kong. Several of her stories have been published by The Quarterly Literary Review Singapore and Math Paper Press. She was a runner-up in British Council’s Writing the City competition, judged by Madeleine Lee, for Travelweary, which has been inspired by her travels. In 2014, she co-edited a poetry book with Ethos Books, and won the ‘best of prose’ 2014 prize in Blood and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine. She also collated, wrote for and edited a commemorative SG50 book on 50 Years of English in Singapore Schools, which was launched in 2015.

Gerard Wong

MEET THE BOOKSTAGRAMMERS: Writing Book Reviews for Smaller Screens

Gerard Wong is the Assistant Programming Director at 938NOW, Singapore’s first news and information radio station. Prior to this, he was the Sports Editor at local newspaper TODAY. Gerard has been in sports journalism for over 20 years and has worked for all three local newspapers: The New Paper, The Straits Times and TODAY. He currently helms a daily evening sports bulletin on 938NOW and appears occasionally on Talking Sports on Channel News Asia’s First Look Asia programme to give his views and insights on the latest developments in the world of sport. Gerard also has experience in doing corporate communications and marketing for local sports organisations. He won the S.League’s Story of the Year award in 2002.

Grace Phua

Grace (@curiousbookreviewer) sees the world through curiosity-filtered lenses. She picks up books that stir up her innate curious cat and munches them before writing bite-sized reviews. Grace is currently pursuing BA(Hons) in English and Literature at SUSS while working full time as a web content creator.

Graham Gamble

KEYNOTE: Where is Writing in an Age of Everything Digital?

Graham Gamble has led schools throughout the world, including in Brazil, the USA and UK. A graduate in Italian and English literature from Edinburgh University, he has retained his interest in young people's creative work throughout his career by editing school magazines and directing school plays.

Gwee Li Sui

Write for Kindness Workshops 2018: Poetry: Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (By invitation only)
Using Narrative Poetry to Develop Writing Skills

Dr Gwee Li Sui is a poet, a graphic novelist, and a literary critic. A familiar name in Singapore’s cultural scene, he has also edited several acclaimed literary anthologies and written and lectured on a range of subjects.

Hannah Rheya Devaser

WRITING WHAT THEY SAY: Speech Writing and the Experiences in Between

As the Subject Head for Literature at Tampines Secondary School, Hannah Devaser is committed to developing discerning readers and articulate communicators in her students. She is immensely thankful for this opportunity as an educator to broaden the limits of her and their world through the love for language.

Herbert Sim

Writing PR in Digital Asia: (Recommended for 16yo and above)

Herbert Sim is the founder of award-winning Asia’s High Fashion & Luxury Online Magazine - WardrobeTrendsFashion. The portal a.k.a. WTF, won the most coveted title of ‘Best Lifestyle Website’ GOLD award at 2015 Asian Digital Media Awards, jointly presented by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and Google. Herbert also contributes articles to Forbes and Huffington Post.

Irene Toh

Writing Socially-Relevant Artistic Content: Supported by Singapore Creations Etc

Actively working with children and youths through the years in the arts and education sector, Irene worked on hundreds of events and productions including the first Great Eastern International Kids Performing Festival at the Esplanade in 2010. She believes in arts being a powerful tool of communication and its creative process is empowering and promotes one’s sense of well-being.

Ivan Ang

Building Worlds Through Words
SOTA Fringe: Word of Month: Supported by School of the Arts Singapore

Ivan has published poetry, fiction and essays. He holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of New Hampshire. He is presently the Subject Head of Literary Arts at School of the Arts, Singapore.

Jamie Tan

The Leon Theory: Supported by Singapore Polytechnic

Jamie is a graduate from the Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media, Singapore Polytechnic. She worked on The Leon Theory for her final year project and wrote a script which was produced for the web series. Jamie completed a 6-month internship at Channel NewsAsia’s Singapore Desk. She is currently majoring in Philosophy at the National University of Singapore, where she doubles as the President of nuSTUDIOS Film Productions.

Jared Chan

Jared Chan has been playing music for the past 10 years. He was trained as a bass player at School of Music Clef under the tutelage of Din Safari for 6 years. He is one-half of singer-songwriting duo Ciao Turtle in April 2014. Since then, Ciao Turtle has been a finalist in SG50 The Gift Of Song song-writing competition organized by Mediacorp and their songs can be heard on national radio airwaves.

Jason Dasey

WRITING SINGAPORE THEATRE: History, Struggles and Triumphs

Jason is a Singapore-based Senior Editor/Coordinating Producer/Host for ESPN. He began his career at The Sydney Morning Herald, and has worked as a journalist in the U.K. and United States, in addition to Australia and Asia. Jason was the first Australian sportscaster for CNN and BBC, and the original host of ESPN's SportsCenter Asia. He has been a weekly sports columnist for major regional publications, including South China Morning Post, Singapore Straits Times and The Jakarta Post.

Jeffrey Tan

Jeffrey is an experienced theatre director, drama educator and Arts Producer. He holds a MA in Drama and Theatre Education from the University of Warwick. For the Singapore Arts Festival, Jeffrey created the Kids Arts Village in 2011 and 2012 and Open Homes in 2015. He has also taught creative and play writing in schools. (photo by Tan Ngiap Heng)

Jeremy Sing

Singapore Films - Making A Mark Regionally: Recommended for 16yo and above

Jeremy is the founder and editor of SINdie, a website on Singapore films. In the last 10 years, through SINdie, he has written extensively about local films, both short and feature films, as well as interviewed numerous filmmakers. He also has a full-time job as a Public Relations Consultant.

Jocelyn Suarez

Readings: Poetry-In-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Jocelyn likes Fight Club and American Gods. She writes prose and poetry, and sometimes speaks on stage. Her works have appeared in SingPoWriMo anthologies, Eunoia review, and other online publications. Despite this, she is still unsure with what to do with life beyond watching Rick and Morty reruns.

Joelyn Alexandra

YOUNG WRITING BY YOUNG WRITERS: The All In! Snack Fiction Anthology

Jo writes urban speculative fiction through various mediums. She is a founding member of Pulp Toast / Roti Bakar, an urban speculative fiction zine, and a contributor to the Rolling Ronins. She likes her Hobonichi Cousin, farming games, breakfasts, and pasta. But don’t give her granola or spaghetti. She can be found on joelynalexandra.weebly.com.

Josephine Chia

THE SINGAPORE STYLE: How Do You Define Singapore Literature?

Peranakan author, Josephine Chia, writes both fiction and non-fiction and has published nine books. Goodbye My Kampong, her tenth book and sequel to her Singapore Literature Prize book, will be released in early 2018. Josephine has also written a YA novel which will be published in time for AFCC 2018.

JY Yang

Singaporean Identity in Contemporary Fiction

JY Yang is the author of the Tensorate novellas from Tor.Com Publishing (The Red Threads of Fortune, The Black Tides of Heaven and two more slated for 2018). They live in Singapore, edit fiction for Epigram Books, and identify as queer and non-binary. Find them online at http://jyyang.com, or on Twitter: @halleluyang. (photo by Nicholas Lee)

Kane Wheatley-Holder

Pitching Your Work Out There: Recommended for 16yo and above
The Power of Film and Your Will to Write It: Supported by the Puttnam School of Film, LaSalle

Kane Wheatley-Holder is Head Scriptwriter of a media production house. He writes for local channels, corporate projects, social media content, and international TV networks such as Cartoon Network and ZooMoo Networks. Kane also has several published short stories. In his free time, he enjoys spreading positive ideas about writing, storytelling and creativity (occasionally with dinosaurs) on his blog.

Karl Gan

Developing Stories for Games & VR/AR: Recommended for 16yo and above

Karl Gan is currently a scriptwriter at Ubisoft Singapore, the company behind several successful AAA video game franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. In his role, Karl develops gameplay narrative through world-building, dialogue-crafting, and a lot of character-inspired soul-searching. He also has a bad habit of using too many hyphens.

Kelvin Ang

Writing PR in Digital Asia: (Recommended for 16yo and above)

Kelvin is a communications professional with experience in both the media and public relations fields. He is currently a member of OCBC Bank's corporate communications team, handling media relations, crisis communications, and branding.

Kenneth Chia

Pitching Your Work Out There: Recommended for 16yo and above

Kenneth has 10 years of experience as a copywriter. Over the decade, his work has been featured on CNN, and he’s had the good fortune of representing Singapore at Cannes Lions in France. After leaving agency life in 2016, Kenneth founded Pencil Sword – a creative shop that helps brands find their voice in today’s noisy marketplace.

Kenrick Lam

Singapore Comedy - Content & Distribution: Recommended for 16yo and above

At 10 years old, Kenrick published his first short story of 10,000 words. Kenrick reads law in NUS and has a passion for the arts. He is alumni of the Creative Arts Program and mentorship program and has performed internationally with the Orchestra of the Music Makers. He is principal double bassist of the Singapore Wind Symphony and vice-president of the Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra. Above all, he is an avid Star Wars fan and an experienced globetrotter.

Lai Weijie

Telling Our Stories - Writing and Making in Southeast Asia: Supported by Singapore International Film Festival

Lai Weijie’s producing credits include POP AYE – winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting at Sundance Film Festival and the VPRO Big Screen Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam. As Programme Manager at SGIFF, he initiated the Southeast Asian Film Lab, Youth Jury & Critics Programme, and Southeast Asian Producer’s Network.

Lai Yam Yee

Writing Socially-Relevant Artistic Content: Supported by Singapore Creations Etc

Yam Yee has just retired from her education centre after 30 years of teaching secondary Mathematics. Currently active in unicycling and futsal, she also volunteers as an Exhibition Guide and Pet Therapist for Children from NUH. Driven by her passion to pass on the love of learning, Yam Yee has enjoyed the unique homeschool journey with her three children over the past 17 years. Through a fun project entitled "Creative Book Making", Yam Yee has led not only her own three children but also many other homeschoolers in creating more than 60 books in 6 years.

Laila Jasni

Laila has been an active participant with SG Creations since 2014 and is one of the young Board Members. She has written content for some of their stage & film productions as well as song lyrics. The process has pushed her to think outside the box and develop greater empathy which she believes is crucial to better understanding and contributing to society.

Laremy Lee

KEYNOTE: Where is Writing in an Age of Everything Digital?

A versatile writer, editor and educator, Laremy Lee has the uncanny knack of being one of the few among his generation in Singapore who crafts compelling stories in different genres. His works have been staged, as well as published online and in print. Excerpts of his pieces are at www.laremy.sg .

Lee Russell

Lee Russell, not to be confused with local True Singapore Ghost Stories writer Russell Lee, is an aspiring novelist with a penchant for fantasy fiction. Easily entertained, his hobbies include doing basically anything. He is currently the head editor of NUS’ Symbal Magazine.

Lee Tat Wei

Singapore Films - Making A Mark Regionally: Recommended for 16yo and above

Tat Wei published a 12,000-word sci-fi story when he was 10 years old at ACS Barker. Years later, he became a regular contributor to a youth magazine , and has mentored young writers as well. He is pursuing a Liberal Arts degree in Yale University and a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship in 2017.

Leong Puiyee

Puiyee is Programme Manager of the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), and is responsible for the Short Film programme at SGIFF since 2014. She also handles the Singapore Panorama programme, a platform that showcases the latest and most exciting developments in Singapore Cinema. Besides SGIFF, Puiyee manages the the film programme and projects at Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film.

Leong Wee Keat

VOX ADOLESCENTIA: The Value of Campus Journalism

Leong Wee Keat is a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s Diploma in Mass Communication Programme. He was a journalist for nine years at MediaCorp’s Today newspaper, where he covered two General Elections and a Presidential Election. At Republic Polytechnic, Wee Keat supervises young budding journalists in the Media Lab, which produces the campus newspaper, The Republican Post.

Li Sijie

Li Sijie is an English Language and Literature teacher at a secondary school who has a strong interest in bilingualism. She enjoys travelling via plane or book. When she's not teaching or marking, you can find her listening to K-indie tunes or tearing at a K-drama. She thinks it's a great idea to include student voices in school magazines.

Lianne Ong

Write for Kindness Workshops 2018: Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (By invitation only)

Lianne is best known for her Stacey & the Museums series, which was initially published in collaboration with museums in Singapore. Stacey Goes to the National Museum and Stacey Goes to the Peranakan Museum, received the Second Prize award at the Samsung Kidstime Author’s Awards 2015. There are currently 5 titles in the series. Lianne’s education background is in Southeast Asian Studies and International Relations. She resides in Singapore with her husband and two children.

Lim Lee Ching

MEET THE BOOKSTAGRAMMERS: Writing Book Reviews for Smaller Screens

Lim Lee Ching, an Associate Professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, is the author of The Works of Tomas Tranströmer: The Universality of Poetry, as well as Pure and Faultless Elation Emerging from Hiding, a collection of poetry. He is the editor of the Singapore Review of Books.

Linn Shekinah

Write for Kindness Workshops 2018: Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (By invitation only)

Linn Shekinah made her first foray into children’s picture books with her award-winning book, The Watchtower Warrior. Her second picture book, Dou Dou, the Little Imperial Chef won the Grand Prize of Samsung KidsTime Award. Her other publications include commissioned works and her bilingual series the Asian Spice Kids, supported by Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism.

Lionel Chok

Developing Stories for Games & VR/AR: Recommended for 16yo and above

Having spent over 18 years of his career in content, design and the creatives since his heydays in broadcast TV and online media, Lionel decided to make a career switch to technology after discovering Augmented and Virtual Reality. Realising how this could be a game changer for content at a time when no one could see its potential yet, he formally embarked on a postgraduate programme in London to upskill himself in this area; and returned to Singapore after completing his postgraduate programme.

Lulu V Mendoza

CONTENT EDITING IN & OUT: Copyediting Beyond Words

A multi-award winning journalist/Editor, Lulu is a proactive, adaptable and conscientious leader with 22 years of international publishing/editorial experience in various industries including Business, Technology, Fashion, Lifestyle and Travel. She has brought a new flair to the world of Business/IT journalism, where she spent over a decade in, and then , joining Harper’s BAZAAR, the Asian Geographic magazine and Asian Diver. She has inspired a few that have worked with her, but have touched many through her work. Lulu is also an author of two books that touch on culture, as well as Business Technology.

Madeline Ang

WRITING FOR A CAUSE: The Call of Creative Advocacy
Poetry in Rap / Rap in Poetry

Madeline is a published poet and writer. Her signature bespoke poems invoke spontaneous praise and homage to the subject. Madeline's works are literary tapestries of raw and intimate narratives brought to life with her intentional stringing of simple curated words. She draws her experiences from looking through the lens of gratitude and at ordinary everyday encounters, as well as being a mother of two teenage girls.

Mario Lajarca Jr

Mario is a lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic's School of Communication, teaching under the Diploma in Media & Communication. He manages SP-DMC's Overseas Social Innovation Project (OSIP) which takes Singaporean students to the heart of community development work in developing countries. Mario is the former creative director and assistant manager of POWER98 FM Singapore and was a former creative producer in Dubai, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Mark Bonafide

Poetry in Rap / Rap in Poetry

Mark Bonafide is an award-winning R&B and Hip Hop artist, singer, producer and rapper based out of Singapore. Over his 15-year music career, he has performed across the Asia-Pacific region, Russia, and Australia, and has shared the stage with The Black Eyed Peas, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Craig David.

Mary Chin

Documenting the Undocumented: Recommended for 16yo and above

Mary Chin is the Course Chair of the Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media, Singapore Polytechnic, and she also teaches modules for documentary making. Prior to teaching, Mary spent more than 10 years in the media industry, as a writer-producer of entertainment and factual content. Her works have been shown on international networks including MTV Asia, Discovery and National Geographic.

Mary George

VOX ADOLESCENTIA: The Value of Campus Journalism

Mary George is the editor and publisher of What’s Up, a monthly newspaper for kids and emerging teens. She is also a child development consultant and teacher educator. Dr George currently lectures at the Singapore University of Social Sciences and the National Institute of Education.

Max Pasakorn

Readings: Poetry-In-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Max Pasakorn is a Thai-born Singapore-based poet serving his National Service. A confessional hopeless romantic at heart, his poetry swings greatly between "terminally happy" and "woefully tragic". Max is a Merit Award winner for the National Poetry Competition 2017, and has been published in anthologies such as SingPoWriMo 2017. (photo by Ng Yi-Sheng)

Melissa Lee

YOUNG WRITING BY YOUNG WRITERS: The All In! Snack Fiction Anthology

Melissa Lee is a young writer working on a mystery thriller novel and trying to start a blog. She loves watching movies, ranging from old classics like Hitchcock to Inception and Mission Impossible. She also learns card tricks from Youtube in her spare time. She currently lives in New York City.

Miguel Angel Almagro

Singapore Films - Making A Mark Regionally: Recommended for 16yo and above

Miguel has worked internationally with a wide range of brands, collaborating with some of the best advertising and marketing companies, including Iris World Wide, Razorfish, WCRS (Engine), Virgin Media, Ogilvy, Proximity, Grand Union, Wunderman, Saint, Dare Digital, RGA, Mediacom, Elephant Seven.

Min Lim

Readings: Poetry-In-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Min Lim is an undergraduate from Yale-NUS College majoring in History. Her works have appeared or are forthcoming in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, SOFTBLOW, and Breakwater Review. She writes at http://minlim.com.

Minqi / Twisstii

Write for Kindness Workshops 2018: Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (By invitation only)

Minqi or twisstii is an illustrator based in Singapore. Driven by an insatiable need to doodle on any possible surface, illustration combines her love for fresh paper and doodling. Other than squeezing unsuspecting cats, she counts various vintage ephemera as her inspiration. Her illustrations have been commission by National Art Gallery Singapore, Philips Singapore, Jewel Box for Singapore Cable Car, McDonald's Singapore and Land Transport Authority Singapore.

Muhammad Afzal bin Abdul Hadi

WRITING FOR A CAUSE: The Call of Creative Advocacy

Afzal is most passionate about Youth Development and is driven by his faith in nurturing our leaders of tomorrow. He is currently a Project Manager with The Hidden Good, always looking for new ideas, stories, and to weave in goodness into the work he does. He is also a Youth Corps Leader under the National Youth Council, and has led projects and events relating to various sectors of society including Youth, Special Needs and Elderly.

Muhammad Faz

Writing Socially-Relevant Artistic Content: Supported by Singapore Creations Etc

Muhammad is journeying into the music industry with the hopes of making a difference in this world through the arts. He joined SG Creations advisory board to learn how he could start an organisation and also to be a voice for young people. He writes music and lyrics because he believes words can deeply affect someone’s feelings and also to express his own

Muzakkir Samat

Write and Save the Planet: Supported by Poetry Festival SG & PoetryWalls

Muzakkir is an engineer in the construction industry. Born and bred in Yishun—home of the Yishun Dam and Yishun Park—Muzakkir has been a big fan of green spaces, wide landscapes and rising suns. He volunteers regularly with FiTree, a Muslim youth environmentalist group, advocating a greener lifestyle for the Muslim masses. Considering the likes of John Muir and Ralph Waldo Emerson as his heroes, Muzakkir would love to walk the path of enlightenment through nature. He believes that the relationship between reading nature and reading poetry is an intersection worth exploring.

Nah Dominic

CONTENT EDITING IN & OUT: Copyediting Beyond Words
TRUTH BE TOLD: Handling Rejection in Publishing

Dominic has just completed his MA in World Literature (and BA English Literature too!) at the University of Warwick. Classroom interventions in Xinmin Secondary and Victoria JC converted this once fiction-hater to an aspiring literature teacher. This b-boy and wrestling fan is working on his writing, concentration issues and hopes to start connecting literature lurkers in Singapore.

Natalie Hennedige

WRITING SINGAPORE THEATRE: History, Struggles and Triumphs

Natalie Hennedige is the Artistic Director of Cake Theatrical Productions, a contemporary performance company based in Singapore. A recipient of the National Arts Council Young Artist Award in 2007 and the JCCI Singapore Foundation Culture Award in 2010, Natalie conceptualises, writes and directs works in theatre and other media. Constantly collaborating with artists from across disciplines such as visual arts, film and video, performance art and dance, Natalie engineers contemporary works that are artistically adventurous and that defy classification, playing at conventional performance venues, unusual spaces of creative experimentation and in public spaces to create performance-based experiences.

Natalie Koh

The News - Digital and Now

Natalie Koh started out her career as a print journalist, covering lifestyle trends and the local arts scene. She now leads social media strategies for The Business Times, Singapore leading financial newspaper, and has worked on digital strategies for brands such as 3M, Canon and Lufthansa.

Natalie Wang

Poetry-in-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Natalie writes about cats, ghosts, and the strange. Her debut collection of poems, The Woman Who Turned Into A Vending Machine, published under Math Paper Press, is about exactly these subjects. You can find her on natwangthecat.wordpress.com, or with the nearest cat.

Ng Swee San

MASTERCLASS: Adapting true Stories: Supported by the Puttnam School of Film, LaSalle (By invitation only)
Screenwriting for Beginners: Recommended for 16yo and above

Swee San has written for acclaimed prime-time TV shows such as The Pupil, Code of Law (all 3 seasons), In Cold Blood and Tanglin. She is currently writing for a children’s series Whoopie 2 and helping to develop an animation feature film. Her full-length play Marriage of Inconvenience was staged by TheatreWorks in 2004. Swee San holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Tisch New York University. In 2017, she became one of 29 Singaporeans to be conferred the SkillsFuture Fellowship, in recognition of her commitment to continuous learning. She teaches scriptwriting at Puttnam School of Film and Animation, Lasalle College of the Arts.

Nicholas Yong

UTOPIA vs DYSTOPIA: The Good in Bad and the Bad in Good

Nicholas Yong is the author of two books: Land of the Meat Munchers, a zombie story set in Singapore, and short story collection Track Faults and Other Glitches. In his day job, Nicholas covers the general beat at Yahoo News Singapore. He has worked in journalism for more than a decade. Nicholas also runs the popular culture website Geek Crusade.

Nikhil Gupta

TECHNOLOGY & WRITING: The Road Ahead
Book Swap!: Supported by Barterli

Nikhil graduated with computer science degree. He is a serial entrepreneur and had his first startup at the age of 22. He is also the founder of Barterli, the book exchange app that connect the community of readers. On the weekend, he enjoys a late walk by the park.

Nuraliah Norasid

UTOPIA vs DYSTOPIA: The Good in Bad and the Bad in Good

Nuraliah Binte Norasid graduated with a PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing from Nanyang Technological University. Currently, she works as a research associate at the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA) and is the winner of the 2016 Epigram Books Fiction Prize, for her debut novel, The Gatekeeper. Her writings have also been published in QLRS, Karyawan Magazine, AMPlified and Perempuan: Muslim Women Speak Out. (photo by Rebecca Toh)

Olivia Ho

MEET THE BOOKSTAGRAMMERS: Writing Book Reviews for Smaller Screens

Olivia Ho is the books reporter at Straits Times Life, where she writes about all things literary and also works on stories about the local arts scene. She previously covered manpower news at the Straits Times newsdesk and later the political desk, and has also done stints at The Business Times, The New Paper and as a crime reporter at the State Courts. She has a BA with first class honours in English literature from University College London and a masters in modern literature from the University of Edinburgh.

Ow Yeong Wai Kit

Developing Social Awareness Through Writing: Recommended for 16yo and above

Ow Yeong Wai Kit is an educator, editor, and writer. Educated at University College London, he has been co-editor of poetry anthologies such as From Walden to Woodlands (2015) as well as Love at the Gallery (2017). He is also an Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) interfaith harmony advocate.

Patricia Karunungan

Building Worlds Through Words
Using Narrative Poetry to Develop Writing Skills

Patricia is a writer and editor with a special interest in diasporic writing. She co-edited the anti-realist fiction anthology this is how you walk on the moon. She earned her BA in English with Creative Writing from Nanyang Technological University, and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in contemporary fiction.

Patrick Yee

Write for Kindness Workshops 2018: Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (By invitation only)

Multi-award winner illustrator, Patrick Yee, is one of Singapore's leading illustrators with more than 155 children's books. He received "The Most Prolific Illustrator" award from the Singapore Book of Records in 2016.He is most well-known in the US for his Rosie Rabbit series which have been translated into eight languages. Patrick is behind the successful Lee Kuan Yew series in Singapore. He holds a degree in Graphic Design from Camberwell College of Arts and a Master's degree from Brighton University, U.K. Patrick is also actively involved in the local arts scene, teaches at various tertiary educational institution and conducts regular art workshops for young children.

Paul Adams

The Rhythm, Sounds and Humour in Adapting Scripts for Theatre: Supported by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Paul Adams is the full time Learning & Engagement Manager at the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT). Paul has recently joined SRT from Manchester in the UK after spending 10 years in the theatre industry working for leading charities and commercial theatre companies. Paul has a Diploma in Musical Theatre and a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Performance from the University of Huddersfield.

Peter Yeo

Brand Consciousness and Unconscious Marketing: Recommended for 16yo and above

Peter Yeo found his talent for crafting tall tales when lecturers loved his epic excuses for being late to class. He continued telling stories first as a digital designer then through the written word at some of Singapore’s biggest publishers including SPH and MediaCorp. Today, he spins stories for corporations and brands. He is content.

Petteri Kaskenpalo

Managing Content - The Regional Experience: Recommended for 16yo and above

Petteri is Director of Innovation and co-founder of FromLabs Pte Ltd; Adjunct Professor at the International Training and Education Centre at the HCMUS – Vietnam National University; and Adjunct Senior Lecturer with the Auckland University of Technology. Petteri’s interests include application of design thinking, start cities and citizens, and software development.

Pip Harry

WORKSHOP: Developing Characters and Breaking Down Plots: (Individual Ticket)
STUCK IN BETWEEN: Writing for Tweens, Midgraders and YA

Pip Harry is an author and copy editor, currently based in Singapore. She has worked as an entertainment and lifestyle journalist for leading Australian magazines and as a copywriter for large multinational corporations. She writes award-winning novels for young adults including I’ll Tell You Mine (2012), Head of the River (2014) and Because of You (2017) and is currently working on a verse novel for middle-grade readers, The Little Wave, scheduled for release in 2019.

Prabhu Silvam

WRITING FOR A CAUSE: The Call of Creative Advocacy
The News - Digital and Now

Prabhu Silvam is a Singapore-based journalist whose works have featured across Forbes, Esquire, The New Paper, The Peak, Sports+Travel Asia and Singapore Architect Magazine. He is the author of Riot Recollections, a photo-essay book documenting the 2013 Little India Riot. For more on Prabhu, please visit his site.

Prem Anand

SPOTLIGHT: Let Loose with The Noose: *SCAPEmedia x All In! Young Writers Festival

Prem Anand is an Executive Research Writer at MediaCorp TV. He started his career as a producer before switching to writing in 2006. In 2007, he conceptualized and was head writer for The Noose, a hit comedy series that would go on to run for nine seasons on Channel 5 and win two Asian Television Awards for Best Comedy. In 2011, The Noose was also nominated for an International Emmy Award.

Rachel Lim

Brand Consciousness and Unconscious Marketing: Recommended for 16yo and above

Rachel Lim is a 19-year-old homeschooler who started writing around the age of 6. Since then, she has written for her school’s online newsletter, joined contests, and contributed to the All In! Snack Fiction Anthology 2017, among other things.

Reene Ho-Phang

Reene Ho-Phang is the Managing Director of BrandStory Asia, an award-winning Public Relations and Travel Representation Consultancy. As charismatic storytellers, BrandStory employs a strategic mix of airline and trade marketing partnerships, as well as consumer engagement via advertising, PR and social and digital programs to drive desire for actual travel.

Rene Kelvin Anthony

VOX ADOLESCENTIA: The Value of Campus Journalism

Rene picked up the love of cars and motoring at an early age, never knowing it would come back one day to be his passion. His later years in life saw him follow his first love even till today, entertaining people. After his involvement in cable station Rediffusion under renowned industry giant Juanita Melson, he noticed the saturation of his craft and decided to marry his craft with his passion, hence Revv Motoring was born, integrating motoring and lifestyle and creating Singapore's Only Motoring and Lifestyle Channel to date. Rene holds a Honors Degree in Business Information and Technology from Coventry University.

Rennes Lee

Rennes is a lover of rocks, pages and moving pictures. She is an Honors year student pursuing English Literature and Film Studies at the National University of Singapore. She has contributed to the Entertainment, Lifestyle, Features, News and Opinions Desks at NUS' The Ridge. After directing several short films with Nustudios, she then went on to work as a Digital Production Intern at CNA Insider and Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity.

Rifyal Giffari

The Power of Film and Your Will to Write It: Supported by the Puttnam School of Film, LaSalle
Writing Socially-Relevant Artistic Content: Supported by Singapore Creations Etc

Rifyal graduated from NTU's School of Art, Design and Media with a First Class Bachelor's of Fine Arts (Honors) in Digital Filmmaking. He is also an alumni of the Singapore International Film Festival's Youth Jury and Critics Programme as well as the ASEAN-ROK Film Leaders Incubator programme (FLY) organised by the Busan Film Commission. Rifyal is also an associate editor for the online Singapore film magazine, SINdie.

Rilla Melati

TRANSLATIONS & PUBLISHING: The Singapore Experience

Rilla Melati Bahri amalgamates education and entertainment and is a pioneer of Malay speech & drama programs in schools in Singapore. She has authored over 20 Malay children’s titles and 3 bilingual books. She is the co-creator of Fonik Ria Cepat Membaca, a Singapore-made Malay reading system. Rilla is the translator of the Malay edition of Singapore’s former president SR Nathan’s book The Crane & The Crab. She currently sits in the National Library Board’s (NLB) Malay Reading Advisory Panel and was the Chief Judge for the 2017 Asian Scholastic Picture Book Award. She was Writer-in-Residence at Gardens By the Bay 2016 as well as Writer-in-Residence at the Toji Cultural Centre in South Korea in 2017. Rilla is presently the Director of Mini Monsters Limited.

Rosemarie Somaiah

THE SINGAPORE STYLE: How Do You Define Singapore Literature?

Rosemarie Somaiah runs Asian Storytelling Network. She has presented her work at festivals and conferences as a writer, arts educator and storyteller Her books include Gateway to Singapore Culture by Asiapac Books, Indian Children’s Favourite Stories by Tuttle Publishing and The Never Mind Girl and other stories by Ethos Book.

Ruth Tan

OF SANS & CURVES: Calligraphy in a Mesh of Writing

Ruth Tan teaches calligraphy, does commissioned work and writes at events. Her clientele includes well-known brands and personalities such as Dior, Chanel and Rachel of Love, Bonito. Formerly a political analyst then a teacher, Ruth now runs her art studio The Workroom. She is a friendly introvert and a mom to three children.

Ryo Leong

Managing Content - The Regional Experience: Recommended for 16yo and above

Ryo is the founder of Content Play, a consultancy and management firm on content marketing. An award winning all rounded marketing, content and media veteran, Ryo was previously the Assistant Lead for Content (English Audience) after holding various marketing and programming roles across channels 8, U, 5, Okto and 987 with Mediacorp.

S. Mickey Lin

UTOPIA vs DYSTOPIA: The Good in Bad and the Bad in Good
Developing Stories for Games & VR/AR: Recommended for 16yo and above

S. Mickey Lin is a former Annenberg Fellow and graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His writings have been published in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US. A multidisciplinary writer, he recently created the series Senior Management for Mediacorp.

Saleem Hadi

LASALLE Fringe: Meet Saleem Hadi: Supported by Puttnam School of Film & Animation, LASALLE

Saleem Hadi is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and theatre practitioner, and is the first Singaporean to have won the REEL STUDIO’s CANNES 2008 DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY DOCUMENTARY AWARD. He has directed 16 short films till date. In 2017, Saleem won the 1st Prize for his English short story in the National Arts Council’s prestigious Golden Point Award Literary Competition. Saleem Hadi is currently championing a nationwide Indian short film archival project, THEINDBOX, under his social enterprise company, Singapore Indian Theatre & Film Explorers (SITFE).

Samantha De Silva

CONTENT EDITING IN & OUT: Copyediting Beyond Words
WORKSHOP: Copyediting - Beyond the Basics of Content: (Individual Ticket)
Pitching Your Work Out There: Recommended for 16yo and above
Hunter’s Moon: Book Talk & Launch

Apart from running Firebird Communication and Firewords, Samantha is a writer who teaches and mentors writers. She crafts and conducts communication and fiction workshops for adults and teenagers and has conducted fiction workshops for the Book Council, including YA and fantasy fiction workshops. Samantha is a co-founder of the Singapore Writers Meetup, a group that encourages writers to meet in cafes to share writers’ woes and collaborate on workshop-style writing exercises and larger projects.

Serene Lim

Serene is a homeschooling stay-at-home-mother of 7 who loves to use her ability to write to teach and encourage fellow mothers. She does this on her blog, Building Up Moms.com. At the moment, only one of her offsprings seems to have inherited her love of writing. The others express their creativity through music and art and craftwork and playing.

Shak’thiya Subramaniamm

Singaporean Identity in Contemporary Fiction

Shak'thiya goes by the stage name of SHAK, is known for his soulful voice and honest music. He grew his love for writing through poetry and was an avid lover for local initiatives and open-mic sessions. With influences ranging from a fusion of genres; Folk, Soul, R&B & Indie, he explains his journey in life through melancholic lyrics and groovy tunes.

Sheena Kang

Sheena is a Literature and Music teacher. She read English at the University of York and pursued a Masters in Comparative Literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Fascinated with the connections between music and literature, she enjoys using music as inspiration for creative writing in the classroom.

Sofia Amanda Bening

Writing Socially-Relevant Artistic Content: Supported by Singapore Creations Etc

Sofia A. Bening is the first Singaporean recipient of the Keats-Shelley Young Romantics Prize. She enjoys celebrating the weird and dissecting human nature through her writing. Her works have been published in Singapore in the All In! Snack Fiction Anthology and the upcoming Anima Methodi anthology by poet Desmond Kon.

Sonia Kwek

Sonia is a performer and theatre practitioner. She has just completed her final year at the full-time actor training programme at the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), and is a recipient of the ITI-William Teo Scholarship. Prior to this, Sonia worked full-time as a research editor at social enterprise The Thought Collective, writing and editing for youth publications Broader Perspectives and PresentPerfect. Sonia is an associate facilitator with SG Creations.

Stella Wee

The Leon Theory: Supported by Singapore Polytechnic

Stella teaches Creative Writing and Scriptwriting at Singapore Polytechnic’s Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media. Before she began her teaching career, Stella was a Scriptwriter at MediaCorp where she created the comedy series Maggi & Me and the Asian Television Award winning sitcom Daddy’s Girls. Stella also wrote scripts for iconic TV shows such as Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Living with Lydia. Her last project was The Leon Theory, a web series that she produced with her students.

Stephen Black

Developing Stories for Games & VR/AR: Recommended for 16yo and above
Digital Avant-Garde

Stephen Black's work with AR is an extension of his experiences as a 3D game maker, a television producer, and a visual artist. He is now concluding a year-long research and writing tour of Southeast Asia. One result of this tour is Lida Cloud, a novel for young adults, featuring an AR protagonist. Stephen has written eight books, including i ate tiong bahru, a national bestseller.

Sumithra Prasanna

Documenting the Undocumented: Recommended for 16yo and above

A multi-award winning creative professional with international brand management and content production experience. Content is at the heart of what Sumithra does. From promoting TV series to directing hour-long documentaries in diverse genres to launching television channels, she has handled the whole gamut of content ideation and network production.

Taha Jailani

YOUNG WRITING BY YOUNG WRITERS: The All In! Snack Fiction Anthology

As a fan of science-fiction and fantasy, it should come as no surprise that Taha Jailani spends half the time creating his own worlds. The other half, you can find him busy reading, working or binge playing Overwatch. You can find more of his pieces under the name PhireHandy.

Tam Hiu Fai

WRITING WHAT THEY SAY: Speech Writing and the Experiences in Between

Hiu Fai is a passionate writer with 7 years of writing experience. She has written speeches for C-levels of non-profit organisations, Ministers and school principals. She is also an experienced translator who writes professional English and Chinese. Graduated with a Master degree from the NUS, she is happily married with a child.

Tan Bee Thiam

Singapore Films - Making A Mark Regionally: Recommended for 16yo and above

Tan Bee Thiam has worked as a director, producer, writer and editor with the 13 Little Pictures, an independent film collective whose films have garnered critical acclaim. Based in Singapore, his films and projects have been presented in Berlin, Rotterdam, New York, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and more. His co-directorial debut FUNDAMENTALLY HAPPY, shot by Christopher Doyle and adapted from the acclaimed play by Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan, premiered at Tallinn in 2015. From 2014 to 2017, he was the film curator with the Singapore International Festival of Arts.

Tan Kay Hoon

Poetry-in-Progress: Supported by ATOM

Kay Hoon is a parent-mentor of the Homeschool Model UN Club because she believes it's important to take an interest in world events by looking at them through different lenses. She is currently finishing up her Masters degree at NTU.

Theophilus Kwek

Theophilus has published four volumes of poetry, including The First Five Storms (2017), which won the New Poets' Prize. He has also won the Berfrois Poetry Prize, and was placed Second in the Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation for 2016. His poems, essays, and translations have appeared in The Guardian, The Irish Examiner, The London Magazine, and the Asia Literary Review. He serves as Co-Editor of Oxford Poetry. (photo by Jon Gresham)

Tiffany Lim

TECHNOLOGY & WRITING: The Road Ahead
Writing Crossplatform Fiction for Young Audiences

Tiffany is the author and illustrator of The April Fool’s Apprentice, which is published by Marshall Cavendish. She was an assistant producer and lead writer for Secrets of the Swamp (2016), a MediaCorp broadcasted telemovie, and the lead scriptwriter for Singapore Fashion Runway's finale film (2015).

Tina Jacob